Posted by Shawn. T. on August 1, 2002, at 22:56:13
In reply to Re: Tianeptine: Effective Tolerable Antidepressan, posted by fairnymph on August 1, 2002, at 12:25:56
> Remeron/mirtazapine: made me irritable, fat, and extremely sedated/lethargic...at all doses (I tried from 15-60 mg over 8 weeks). Did nothing for my OCD, and triggered my first-ever major depressive episode.
>
My thinking is that the side effects brought on a great deal of stress for you over a period of time; in my opinion that is one major avenue towards major depression. Had you stayed within the 7.5-15mg/day range, you would have likely seen better results, although you wouldn't have seen the effects that you wanted. I really like Remeron mixed with Wellbutrin; I'm beginning to think that Remeron by itself isn't so great. With the Wellbutrin, there is really no reason to go above 15mg/day, which I believe is what causes a lot of problems (besides the weight gain issue). Most people don't like the idea of having to take two drugs at once, so unfortunately not enough people try the combination.> Effexor/venlafaxine: worked quite well and I really liked it, but after a week at the max dose it stopped working (i.e. pooped out).
>
That is why SNRI's are a dead end, the SSRI part tends to do that. Not to mention that SSRI's blunt your emotional responses in general.> Reboxetine: Tried it for 3 weeks (started working after 2 wks), worked really well for my depression, very motivating, didn't do anything for my OCD. No side effects.
>
I would speculate that Reboxetine works more quickly than Wellbutrin because it is a strong noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. Such drugs begin working when inhibitory alpha-2-adrenergic receptors become down regulated. The implication of that action is that noradrenaline levels actually decrease. They also seem to cut off the ability of serotonin to increase levels of noradrenaline neuron firing (which would increase noradrenaline levels).> Wellbutrin: I am almost at 3 weeks on 300 mg. I believe I might have just started to feel better (depression wise), though I can't say for sure yet. It made my anxiety bad for the first 1.5 weeks but it is more manageable now.
>
Wellbutrin is similar to Reboxetine, although I don't believe that 300mg of Wellbutrin would be equally potent to say 4mg of Reboxetine (only speculation). That might help explain why Wellbutrin seems to take a longer time to start working. I am starting to lean towards Wellbutrin being a dopamine reuptake inhibitor in vivo (reports differ on this); I'm still trying to sort out all of the implications that this quality would have in humans.> Tianeptine: did NOTHING! From the first night I took it until I stopped taking it 7 weeks later, I felt nothing. No side effects, no CNS activity. I took a wide range of doses (up to 150 mg a day!). I seriously think they must be sugar pills or something....what a waste of my money. The only interesting thing I can comment on, is that it seemed to mildly potentiate the effects of various amphetamines.
>
> Anways, as you can see, I am not exactly treatment resistant, and I tend to respond to meds pretty quickly. Sometimes I need a higher dose than the average person but I believe that is typical for OCD patients.
>
> I know a few others (maybe 3 or so?) who have taken tianeptine and found it similarly useless.
>
> I too was really excited after researching tianeptine on medline etc...and I was really hoping and expecting it to work...but nothing. So not to burst your bubble, and I realize that I am just one person, but I want to warn you...don't get your hopes up too much. :-/
>
> ~fairnymph
>You definitely didn't burst my bubble; your and Velaguff's comments are definitely helpful to me. I cannot get a subjective feel for the qualities of tianeptine; I have a better idea now. What I'd really like to know about is how it feels subjectively when mixed with other drugs. I'm still thinking about ordering some to see how it interacts with Wellbutrin and Remeron. I believe that I have a better understanding of hypomania now; I didn't foresee that happening. I don't know nearly as much about OCD as other topics; I'll do some research sometime.
Shawn
poster:Shawn. T.
thread:114758
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/114877.html